GENERAL LEDGER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IN R12

1) Can a flexfield qualifier be changed after it has been created?

Ans) No.
Once a segment qualifier has been designated for a specific segment and has been saved, it will
permanently have the attributes with that qualifier.
For example, you accidentally designate the cost center segment as the natural account segment.
Even though you do not compile this, the system saves the changes. And once it has been saved,
it will have all the attributes designated for the natural account qualifier, even after it has been
changed back, resaved with the correct qualifier and compiled. This is the inherent functionality
of the software.
Unfortunately, there is no real easy solution for this issue. The only option is to create a new
chart of accounts and attach a new set of books.
2) How to delete a segment value?
Ans) There is no supported way to delete a segment value. Segment values can only be disabled
not deleted.
3) Is there a way to load values for a specific segment outside of the form?
Ans) iSetup is the Oracle product that provides supported APIs to load values into Oracle
Applications flexfields.
To load code combinations ADI may be used. Uploading zero amount journals will create new
code combinations.
In this case Dynamic Insertion should be enabled and all account segment values need to exist
before the new account code combinations will be dynamically created.

4) What are the different types of Journals in General Ledger ?

Ans)

1. Functional Currency Jv: This Journal, we enter Local Currency transaction purpose.
2. Foreign Currency Jv: this Journal, we enter other than local currency transaction
purpose...before we define exchange rates
3.Suspense Jv: this Journal, whenever debit is not equal to credit that time, we enable in set of
books window Suspense button, then it works otherwise it's not working
4.Tax Jv: this Journal, calculate taxation of Purchased items
5.Reverse Jv: this Journal whenever we enter recurring journal, at the time of we using..We have
two methods...one is Debit to Credit and second one is sign (+ to -)
6.Recurring Jv :this one is We define one template, we use Periodically, these are 3 types
1.Standard 2.Skeleton 3.Formula
7.Mass Allocation Jv :Set of Expenses or Set of Revenue allocate different parts using Formula
A*B/C
A is Total Cost Pool..B is Usage Factor...C is Total Usage Factor...
8. Batch JV: Group of Journal we enter at a time, We Define Control Amount
9. Stat JV: This JV we have one side of Amount either debit or Credit.....
5) What is average Balance In Oracle Financials?

Ans) The Average Balance feature of Oracle General Ledger provides organizations with the
ability to track average and end-of-day balances, report average balance sheets, and create
custom reports using both standard and average balances. Average balance processing is
particularly important for financial institutions, since average balance sheets are required, in
addition to standard balance sheets, by many regulatory agencies. Many organizations also use
average balances for internal management reporting and
Profitability analysis.
The difference between an average and standard balance sheet is that balances are expressed as
average amounts rather Than actual period-end amounts. An average balance is computed as the
sum of the actual daily closing balance for a balance sheet account, divided by the number of
calendar Days in the reporting period .

6) Is there a limit to the number of periods in a budget year or how many years a budget
can span?

Ans) One can define budgetary control for n number of years however, one year can have
maximum of 60 fiscal periods7)
7) What is a funding budget?

Ans) A budget against which accounting transactions are checked for available funds when
budgetary control is enable for your set of books.
8) What is planning budget
Ans) The plan for the future expenses is planning budget. It is a paper work. There is no funds
requirement. It does not require journals. There are no restrictions for estimating of funds.
9) I was able to post a budget journal to a closed period, why?
Ans) Yes you can do so, reason being budget journal is not linked with your accounting period.
Once you have open the budget period then you can book budget journal for that whole period.
10) What is the specific purpose of assigning Balancing Segment Values to the Legal Entity
in Accounting Manager Setup (as once assigned, the same value is not allowed to be
selected for any other Legal Entity), if this value is usable for the Operating Unit(s) that
does not have this Legal Entity Context?
Ans) Summary of key facts:
1. Common COA Structure used for Primary and Secondary Ledgers
2. Ledger shared by Multiple Legal Entities
3. Specific Balancing Segment Values assigned to Specific Legal Entity (Overlap not allowed)
4. Specific Legal Entity Vision Operations Assigned to Payables Manager OU for Legal Entity
Context
5. User preference set to Access Vision Operations OU by Default in Payables
Conclusion and Findings:
1. Balancing Segment Value Assignment to the Multiple Legal Entities, sharing the same Ledger
does not seem to restrict the user of these Balancing Segment Values in the Feeder, Operating
Unit specific Modules Like AP, wherein Legal Entity Context is passed to the OU through the
link of the Primary Ledger.
2. However, access to these Balancing Segment Values could be controlled through Security
Rules being assigned to the Value Set and the Respective Responsibility
3. The Key question is: If Legal Entity having the context to the Operating Unit that shares the
common Ledger does not have assignment to it, what impact it has on the integrity of data when
this access is otherwise allowed, except through Security Rules?

11) What are the interface tables in General Ledger ?

Ans)
GL_BUDGET_INTERFACE
GL_DAILY_RATES_INTERFACE
GL_IEA_INTERFACE
GL_INTERFACE
GL_INTERFACE_CONTROL
GL_INTERFACE_HISTORY
12) What is DFF.
Question: What does DFF mean?
Answer: DFF is a mechanism that lets us create new fields in screens that are delivered by
Oracle.
Question: Oh good, but can these new fields be added without modifying/customization of the
screen?.
Answer: Yes, certainly. Only some setup is needed, but no programmatic change is needed to
setup DFF.
Question: Why the word Descriptive in Name DFF?
Answer: I think Oracle used this terminology because by means of setup...you are describing the
structure of these new fields. Or may be Oracle simply used a silly word to distinguish DFF from
KFF(discussed in latter training lesson).
Question: Are these DFF's flexible?
Answer: A little flexible, for example, depending upon the value in a field, we can make either
Field1 or Field2 to appear in DFF.
Question: So we create new fields in existing screen, but why the need of doing so?
Answer: Oracle delivers a standard set of fields for each screen, but different customers have
different needs, hence Oracle lets us create new fields to the screen.
Question: Are these new fields that get created as a result of DFF free text?
I mean, can end user enter any junk into the new fields that are added via DFF?
Answer: If you attach a value set to the field(at time of setup of dff), then field will no longer be
free text. The entered value in the field will be validated, also a list of valid values will be
provided in LOV.
Question : Will the values that get entered by the user in dff fields be updated to database?
Answer: Indeed, this happens because for each field that you create using DFF will be mapped
to a column in Oracle Applications.
Question: Can I create a DFF on any database column?

Answer: Not really. Oracle delivers a predefined list of columns for each table that are meant for
DFF usage. Only those columns can be mapped to DFF segments. These columns are named
similar to ATTRIBUTE1, ATTRIBUTE2, ATTRIBUTE3 ETC. Usually Oracle provides upto 15
columns, but this number can vary.
Question: Can I add hundreds of fields to a given screen?
Answer: This depends on the number of attribute columns in the table that screen uses. Also,
those columns must be flagged as DFF enabled in DFF Registration screen. Don't need to worry
much about this because all the ATTRIBUTE columns are by default flagged for their DFF
usage.
Question: Hmmm, I can see that DFFs are related to table and columns...
Answer: Yes correct. Each DFF is mapped to one table. And also each segment(or call it field) is
mapped to one of the attribute columns in that table.
Question: I want these fields to appear in screen only when certain conditions are met. Is it
possible?
Answer: Yes, we have something known as Context Sensitive Descriptive Flexfields.
In Order to do this, we will follow the below steps(screenshots will follow) :1. Navigate to the DFF Registration screen in Oracle Apps and query on Table
AP_BANK_BRANCES. Now click on Reference Field
2. Navigate to DFF Segments screen and query on the Title of the Bank Branch and Unfreeze
the Flexfield and add segments as to Section "GLOBAL Data Elements" as shown in
screenshots.

13) What is Journal Import?

Ans) Journal import is an interface used to bring journal entries from legacy systems and other
modules into the General Ledger.(Specifically Journal Import gets entries from legacy data into
the GL base tables.
The tables populated during journal Import are
GL_JE_BATCHES,
GL_JE_HEADERS,
GL_JE_LINES,
GL_IMPORT_REFERENCES

14) What is the use of GL_Interface?

Ans) Gl_Interface is the primary interface table of General ledger. It acts as an interface between
data originating from other modules such as AP,AR, Legacy data and the Gl Base tables.
15) What is Actual Flag?
Ans) Actual flag represents the Journal type.
A-Actual
B-Budget
E- Encumbrance.
16) What is Encumbrance?
Ans) It is a process of Reservation of funds for anticipated expenditure from a budget.
Encumbrance integrates GL, Purchasing and Payables modules.
17) How many Key Flex Fields are there in General Ledger?
Ans) One. Accounting Key Flex Field.
18) How many types of Budgets are there?
Ans) Two Types.
Expenditure Budgets
Revenue Budgets.
19)What are Spot Rate, Corporate Rate, Transaction Calendar and Accounting Calendar?
Ans) Spot Rate:
An exchange rate which you enter to perform conversion based on the rate on a specific date. It
applies to the immediate delivery of currency.
Corporate Rate:

An Exchange rate that we define to standardize rates for our company. This rate is the standard
market rate determined by the senior financial management for use through out the organization.
User Rate:
Conversion rate that is defined by the user.
EMU Fixed Rate: An exchange rate that is provided automatically by the General Ledger while
entering journals. It uses a foreign currency that has a fixed relationship with the euro.
Transaction Calendar: Defines the business days and holidays for any calendar.
Accounting Calendar: Defines different types of calendars namely Fiscal, Federal Fiscal, Month
etc.
20)What is Security Rule?
Ans) Security Rules are defined to control the access of a flexfield segment value (Financial
information) at a responsibility level.
21) What are Cross Validation & ADI?
Ans) CVS Cross validate segments Allows only valid code combinations.
ADI Allow dynamic inserts. Allows any code combination irrespective of validity.
ADI would prevail if both of CVS and ADI are checked.
22)What is Translation?
Ans) Translation is a process used to convert functional currency to other reporting currencies at
the account balances level.
23)What is Revaluation?
Ans) It is process used to revalue assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency into
functional currency based on period end exchange rate we specify. Unrealized gains/losses are
resulted because of exchange rate fluctuations which are recorded in unrealized gain/loss account
in GL.

24)What is FSG (Financial Statement Generator)?

Ans) Financial statement generator feature helps us to generate reports such as balance sheets
and income statements with out programming. It also provides a high degree of control on the
rows, columns, contents and calculations on the report. Different components such as row set,
column set, content set, row order, display set have to be defined before a statement is generated,
of which row set and column set are mandatory.
25) What is Consolidation?
Ans) Consolidation is a period-end process of combining the financial results of separate
business subsidiaries with the parent company to form a single combined statement of financial
results.
26) At what level General Ledger data is secured?
Ans) GL data is secured at Set of Book level. Subledger module data is secured at Responsibility
level (i.e., at Operating Unit Level).
27) Difference between Primary Ledger and Secondary Ledger in R12 ?
Ans) Primary ledger:
The primary ledger acts as the primary accounting representation
Secondary Leger:
Secondary ledgers represent the primary ledger's accounting data in another accounting
representation that differs in one or more of the following ways:

chart of accounts

accounting calendar/period type combination

currency

subledger accounting method

ledger processing options

Use secondary ledgers for supplementary purposes, such as consolidation, statutory reporting, or
adjustments for one or more legal entities within the same accounting setup. For example, use a
primary ledger for corporate accounting purposes that uses the corporate chart of accounts and
subledger accounting method, and use a secondary ledger for statutory reporting purposes that
uses the statutory chart of accounts and subledger accounting method. This allows you to
maintain both a corporate and statutory representation of the same legal entity's transactions in
parallel.
Assign one or more secondary ledgers to each primary ledger for an accounting setup.
The secondary ledgers assigned can only perform the accounting for the legal entities within the
same accounting setup.